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Military features

PHOTO GALLERIES

Back from Kosovo

Alaska Army National Guard soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 207th Aviation Regiment, were reunited with friends and family at the Alaska National Guard armory at Camp Denali on Fort Richardson on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2009, after a year-long deployment where they supported peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions in Kosovo.

Obama at Elmendorf Air Force Base

President Barack Obama spoke to a hanger full of airman and soldiers at Elmendorf Air Force Base Thursday afternoon, November 12, 2009.

SOLDIER PROFILES

Alaska's Fallen Soldiers

Running list of profiles of Alaskan, or Alaska-based, soldiers who have died since 2003.

Air Force to downsize staff at closed King Salmon base

By LISA DEMER
ldemer@adn.com

Published: October 27th, 2009 12:29 PM
Last Modified: October 27th, 2009 12:52 PM

The U.S. Air Force is cutting back the contract staff at its King Salmon facility, officials announced on Tuesday.

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The Air Force closed its base there in 1993, a few years after the Berlin Wall came down, but kept the King Salmon operation in caretaker status with 42 contract workers at an annual cost of $7 million, said Lt. Gen. Dana Atkins of the 11th Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage.

For the last five years, the Air Force has used the Southwest Alaska site only for training, so it makes economic sense to scale it way back, Atkins told reporters.

The new contract should be in the range of $3.5 million a year with a staffing level of 21 to 30. The operation will be able to ramp up and house up to 400 if needed, according to the Air Force.

The contract currently is held by Chugach Support Services and expires in March.

The Air Force will continue to contract separately with the state Department of Transportation for runway and taxiway maintenance, the lieutenant general said.

After he briefed reporters, Atkins was flying to King Salmon to evaluate which buildings the military wants to keep, which should be demolished and which could be turned over to the community.

Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390.